A week ago I decided to start upgrading. Naturally the first advice I was given, and which I knew was coming, was I needed to start with the grinder. I always wanted a doserless because I grind on demand; loading only enough beans for my shots. The Rocky doser was messy. I also didn't want a machine with a lot of plastic nor one with too many electronic controls (this despite the fact I've pid'ed the Silvia nearly from day one and would never go without that). And the name Mazzer, who wouldn't want that on their counter?

I bought a Mini-e type B. Love the looks and build. Got it out of the box, got the grind to feel right, and started pulling shots. And they sucked. Channeling, early blonding, blech!

Frightened and dismayed, I started reading up on what could be the cause. There are certainly lots of stories of problems and a few fairly involved modifications to "fix" the grinder. But I don't really understand why this grinder is so difficult. The main reasons given are clumping. I've tried a little WDT and it helped somewhat, but it wasn't a magic cure.

I'm wondering why clumping is made out to be the problem. The clumps break up easily. Won't the compression from tamping just take care of them? I've also wondered why static is such a problem on doserless as well; wouldn't a doser also have static issues, with grinds sticking the inside of the doser walls? Internally the chutes are the same.

I've got a few more days I can evaluate the grinder and still return it. What should I try? This grinder seems to have a finer grind than the Rocky, so one thought is perhaps I'm grinding too fine and not tamping enough.

I don't want to have to do extra steps with a grinder that cost twice as much as my Rocky that I didn't have to do before!

Nah, I wouldn't return it because your shots suck. I agree with the previous poster; grind finer, work on dialing the grind in general.

I'm using the Mini-E Type B, and while I have some minor complaints about it, I generally get good looking shots. I considered returning it, but ended up keeping it. I was talking with a pro barista, and he said it's a fine grinder and to not worry too much about the gear. Sure, there are better grinders, but I think you're going to have to dump 2x into the price.

In stock form, the distribution of grinds into the basket is atrocious. The flow through the puck strikingly uneven. With the anti-static screen removed but using a dosing funnel to control the static spray of grinds I've seen much better looking shots.

Give the burrs some time to break-in. New burrs aren't really consistent for the first couple of pounds and can give some problems that will go away once they break in. Putting SJ burrs in the Mini will also improve grind quality but they also need to break in.

Give the burrs some time to break-in. New burrs aren't really consistent for the first couple of pounds and can give some problems that will go away once they break in. Putting SJ burrs in the Mini will also improve grind quality but they also need to break in.

Yeah, new burrs need to be broken in...as mentioned already. Also, clumping will decrease after break in as well. Once the grinder insides are well oiled (coffee oils) the clumping will subside somewhat, if not completely.

.Always remember the most important thing is what ends up in your cup!

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